Eric Church Pays Emotional Tribute to John Prine With ‘Long Monday’ [Watch]

Eric Church is among the many fans and friends who turned to social media to honor John Prine after his death on Tuesday evening (April 7). The country superstar shared a video to Instagram on Wednesday (April 8), singing "Long Monday" in remembrance of the man he says "taught me how to write a song."

Church is wearing a ball cap and a T-shirt in the black-and-white video, in which he accompanies himself on acoustic guitar as he sings the Prine classic. Prine co-wrote "Long Monday" with Keith Sykes, and it appeared on his Fair & Square album in 2005.

Church strips the already sparse arrangement down to just his voice, the guitar and lyrics as he delivers the contemplative song.

"Gonna be a long Monday / Sittin' all alone on a mountain / By a river that has no end / Gonna be a long Monday / Stuck like the tick of a clock / That's come unwound again," he sings in the chorus.

Prine died at the age of 73 after battling complications from the coronavirus (COVID-19). Tributes from his peers and fans have come pouring in, and Church's is one of the most powerful of the bunch, not only musically, but as he talks of the music icon.

"We lost one of my all-time favorites yesterday," Church says to begin the clip, and after the song concludes, he looks soberly into the camera and says simply, "We love you, John Prine."

Prine's wife of 24 years, Fiona, released a statement on Wednesday, writing, "We have no words to describe the grief our family is experiencing at this time."